King Saud devoted his attention to adult education and, eradication of illiteracy which was limited at the beginning of his reign to the Makah and Al-Medina regions. In (1954) he ordered the establishment of a specialized department for adult education and eradication of illiteracy integrated within the Ministry of Education which was called the Department of Folk Culture and was attached to the Elementary Education Department.
Due to public interest and significance of education and in order to support the efforts made in this respect, the Department of Folk Culture was separated from Elementary Education and became an independent department with its own administration and budget in 1958.